1/4-Mile Drag Race
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to the Diesel Power Challenge presented by XDP.
00:04 It is the third and final event that we have here in Bandamere and it's the one you'd expect
00:08 us to be having here at Bandamere, heads up, quarter mile drag racing.
00:11 We're going to give the competitors an opportunity to qualify.
00:13 They'll be laddered and it'll be a three round elimination with our remaining seven trucks
00:17 competing down the racetrack.
00:19 So before we go forward, let's take a look back at an event that truly lived up to its
00:22 billing, the 8 Mile Trailer Dome.
00:42 Alright, let's go.
01:03 Damn! What? Want to check?
01:30 Amazing until all of a sudden it was just smoking and smoking under the hood and Charlie
01:35 stopped and he's like, "Fire!"
01:36 So I went and grabbed the fire extinguisher and we opened the hood but it was just oil
01:41 everywhere so that's about it.
01:45 We'll see what happens.
01:46 Needless to say, we're done.
01:49 Nate Stacey and Travis Kohler came up with their qualifying passes and they found the
01:52 elevation at the drag strip just as tough to deal with as the elevation at the dyno
01:56 just down the road.
01:57 You can see these two charging down the racetrack but neither of them would put up a number
02:00 that they were happy with earlier today.
02:01 They would both get going quicker after this.
02:11 Neil Torley and Ray McClellan came to the starting line to make a qualifying run.
02:14 McClellan was okay but Neil Torley was dealt a very strange surprise when he found out
02:19 his team had, unbeknownst to him, swapped the nitrous jets under the hood.
02:22 He was having huge problems getting the truck to swoll so they went back under the hood
02:26 and they changed those jets.
02:27 Torley was very frustrated.
02:28 Once the jets were changed, he was able to make a run and he used that run as his qualifying
02:29 pass.
02:30 Here's Ray McClellan, really let one fly off the starting line.
02:31 McClellan's truck running very well on the drag strip.
02:32 As we know, it's a big power unit and it showed it here going down in the tens.
02:43 10.963, 132.
02:45 That's crazy.
02:46 8,000 pound truck at elevation.
02:50 We see David Ferguson and Neil Torley back at the starting line right now to make another
02:54 hit on the racetrack.
02:55 Again, trying to get these trucks figured out at the elevation.
02:57 It is a challenge for many.
02:58 You can see Ferguson's truck on the left-hand side of your screen.
03:01 Lots of black smoke out of the stack and off they go.
03:03 Torley leaves the starting line like he means it and that truck is really picking up hard.
03:07 You can see him hanging on to the wheels, head bobbing back and forth and Neil Torley
03:11 going to power down while David Ferguson has a bunch of problems happening in his lane
03:15 and Torley's going to shut his truck off or he broke it.
03:18 13.67, no good.
03:19 Ferguson going to make a late inning charge here.
03:20 Goes down the back half of the racetrack, 21.78 at 103.
03:27 So with qualifying set, let's take a look at our first round eliminations ladder.
03:30 Charlie Keeter earns the by-run in round number one.
03:34 Neil Torley will take on Travis Kohler.
03:36 Bray McClellan will take on David Ferguson and Kelsey Epp will take on Nathan Stacey.
03:41 A lot of broken trucks, dodging rain, but guys are kind of getting it through.
03:48 Well Charlie Keeter is showing his veteran status on the drag strip so in order to save
03:52 the truck and not put an extra beating on it that it didn't need, he did exactly that.
03:56 And he's going to back it up and service this thing for round number two.
04:00 Well another strange matchup here in the first round eliminations.
04:03 Travis Kohler was supposed to be racing Neil Torley.
04:05 Torley heavily favored in this matchup, way more power, but as you can see, Torley's teammates
04:10 had to push the truck to the starting line so he could get staging points.
04:13 They have broken something in the transmission again, so it is going to be Travis Kohler
04:17 taking a gentle stroll down the drag strip.
04:19 He gets things handled.
04:23 Well here's another strange situation cropping up in round number one.
04:26 We know Kelsey Epp hurt her truck.
04:28 They're going up to the starting line and now there's kind of a debate going on whether
04:31 they should stage the truck or actually drive it all the way down the course.
04:35 You get points to stage, but you also get points for completing a run in competition.
04:39 You can see an intense conversation going on with their crew as they decide or try to
04:42 decide what the best course of action is here.
04:45 They're kind of debating back and forth what the move is.
04:47 You can see Kelsey is frustrated.
04:50 They're trying to figure it out.
04:51 Now her crew's going over to talk to diesel power officials and she's going to put her
04:53 gear on.
04:54 Obviously not going to make a full power pass, but she's going to put her gear on and drive
04:58 down the racetrack to do that and then record the points for completing a run in competition.
05:03 At least that's what the program is right now.
05:04 That could change at any moment.
05:06 Clearly Kelsey frustrated.
05:07 Now the track official coming over to talk to her.
05:11 And the crewman is back.
05:12 They're trying to figure this out now.
05:13 John Holman is injecting his opinion, telling her, "Hey, listen, if you have to record a
05:16 three-minute elapsed time, just take your time down the racetrack.
05:19 Get the points for finishing the run."
05:22 You never know what could happen when you stage the truck.
05:24 Her competitor knows she's broken, but she's going to come up and stage it and drive it
05:27 down and get those points.
05:30 Kelsey Epp has decided to stage the truck.
05:32 After all, she's going to come up.
05:33 Nathan Stacey will be in the other lane.
05:35 He's effectively running unopposed.
05:36 He just wants to make a good representative run out here, get some more data for his combination
05:40 and go on to the next round.
05:43 Meanwhile, Kelsey's going to take that thing off the starting line and gingerly work it
05:46 down the racetrack.
05:47 You can see that white smoke coming out of the stack.
05:49 That is one wounded GMC truck as Nathan Stacey goes 13.51.7 at 80 miles an hour.
05:56 >> I think we're still okay in the points.
06:02 So we're going to put some thicker oil in it tonight and duct tape down the oil cap
06:09 and see if we can make a decent pull tomorrow at seven cylinders.
06:12 >> Did you figure out exactly what was wrong?
06:14 >> We have a good idea that there's a melt piston or a hole in the cylinder or something.
06:21 We got some blow by.
06:22 But I think we still should be able to make a decent pull at seven cylinders.
06:25 We'll see what happens.
06:26 We could still come out with a trophy on this one.
06:30 >> So it is David Ferguson and Ray McClellan coming to the starting line.
06:33 And look at this.
06:34 Ray McClellan's truck is broken.
06:36 Wow.
06:37 What a battle of attrition we've had here at Vandemeer Speedway.
06:41 David Ferguson going to gingerly drive his truck down the Mopar lane.
06:45 Who will be left standing at the end of this one?
06:47 It's not Ray McClellan.
06:48 David Ferguson advances.
06:51 >> Well, here we are at the end of the day.
06:55 And I think what you've seen is a bunch of vehicles and the racing brackets just pushed
07:01 to break the beams.
07:02 I think almost everybody's broken right now in one form or another.
07:06 Everybody will be back tomorrow.
07:07 They all feel like they've got issues that they can fix tonight.
07:09 So they're breaking the beams to get the points.
07:12 And so we're in the middle of the drag race.
07:13 So probably come down to two really good trucks and the rest kind of battle for, you know,
07:17 survival.
07:18 So we've got -- sounds like a melted piston on Kelsey Epps' truck.
07:22 We've got a super duty that's got a planetary on the transmission pump that's down.
07:27 So everybody's just limping along, but we're still racing.
07:30 >> And now let's look at the second round match-up.
07:32 It's going to be Charlie Keeter and Travis Cole are getting after it.
07:35 And it's going to be David Ferguson taking on Nathan Stacey.
07:38 So here's our side-by-side match-up.
07:39 It is Charlie Keeter on the right side of your screen and it is Travis Kohler on the
07:43 left side of your screen.
07:44 Keeter has to be the favorite truck in this one.
07:46 Highly modified machine.
07:47 Kohler not quite the modifications that -- man, did Kohler get a hole shot there?
07:51 But here comes Charlie Keeter.
07:52 Wow, by the 8th mile.
07:53 Look at this thing going to drive right by Travis Kohler.
07:54 And he's only going to work the truck hard enough that he needs to.
07:55 That is a good, smart move to save the equipment.
08:02 12.28.2 at 93 for Keeter.
08:04 13.38.2 at 99.41 for Travis Kohler.
08:07 Next pair up, it's David Ferguson and Nathan Stacey.
08:11 Stacey in the Chevrolet.
08:12 Going to try to hang with the Ford, but David Ferguson just literally pouring on the coals
08:16 early on in this run.
08:17 That Ford making immense amounts of power and just running away from the Chevrolet of
08:20 Nathan Stacey.
08:21 This one's all David Ferguson.
08:22 Goes through the lights.
08:23 And 11.24.7, 126.
08:24 Stacey goes 14.05 at 109 in the losing effort.
08:25 And the final round will be an all-Ford affair.
08:26 It's Charlie Keeter and David Ferguson getting ready to square off for top drag truck.
08:27 We're down to the last two competitors, and we're giving their 15-minute cool down.
08:48 Coming all the way out this way with a truck that's basically the most set up that's on
08:51 it.
08:52 It's only had eight dyno pulls, all on fuel only.
08:53 With the cars that we've been dealt, I think we-- I'm not happy with it, but I think where
08:59 we're at is pretty good.
09:01 Truck's a little warm right now.
09:02 It's getting hot lap there.
09:03 We got something happened with the bulbs.
09:05 I don't know, but that was our full boost.
09:08 Temps are all perfect.
09:09 I was at full boost, and I had to back back out and re-boost.
09:12 So the truck's a little hot.
09:14 I wish I had a couple more minutes, but hopefully we get a win here, and we'll see what happens.
09:20 Let's go, man.
09:21 Let's go.
09:22 We'll see if we can top this thing off.
09:23 So Charlie Keeter and David Ferguson roll towards the starting line in their pair of
09:24 Super Duty Fords.
09:25 It's anybody's guess here.
09:26 Keeter's truck, the more powerful of the two, but we've seen so much breakage and carnage.
09:27 Who knows what's going to happen, and they go right in.
09:28 Don't waste any time.
09:29 Here we go.
09:30 The tree comes down, and it is going to be Ferguson with a hole shot, and it's Ferguson
09:31 pulling away at 330 feet, and Keeter looks over and says, "Goodbye, Charlie Keeter."
09:32 And he's got a hole shot.
09:33 And he's got a hole shot.
09:34 And he's got a hole shot.
09:35 And he's got a hole shot.
09:36 And he's got a hole shot.
09:37 And he's got a hole shot.
10:01 So here we are with Charlie Keeter, our first place winner of the drag race.
10:06 Man, that was a hell of a pass.
10:09 Holy crap.
10:10 How was ... The truck looked like everything worked perfectly.
10:13 It was perfectly dialed.
10:14 I mean, how was it from the driver's seat?
10:17 This is ... The racetrack is where the truck belongs.
10:20 It's where it spends its most time at.
10:22 It's where I'm comfortable at in the truck.
10:24 All day long, you've been having a pretty good time, and the truck's keeping you working.
10:27 Is there anything you did differently?
10:28 Yeah.
10:29 I mean, I picked up on the chargers a lot harder this time, because the last pass, it
10:33 was under the chargers.
10:34 And when I went to the floor with it, it just flooded the motor with fuel.
10:38 Finally picked up about the 400 foot mark.
10:40 Yeah.
10:41 Yeah.
10:42 It looked like you actually rolled into it pretty good, and it looked like a rocket ship
10:43 from there.
10:44 So you happy representing the Power Strokes out there?
10:47 Yes, sir.
10:48 Six liter.
10:49 So tell us a little bit about your ... What part of the engine ... What do you have in
10:52 it?
10:53 What made it so it's so successful?
10:54 And is there anything in the drive train that kept, obviously, six liter reputation out
10:59 there?
11:00 You've shown that a six liter could be built to win.
11:01 I'm kind of curious what your recipe is, and let everybody know.
11:04 It's nothing special.
11:05 Built it in the backyard, in the front yard at my buddy's house.
11:10 It's got seven millimeter Warren Diesel hybrid injectors, twisted diesel built 4R, running
11:16 a triple turbo setup.
11:18 Two 369s feeding a 468.
11:22 Nitrous works wonders up here.
11:24 Yeah, absolutely high altitude.
11:25 Has it been different racing up here at higher altitude than what you expected?
11:29 Yes.
11:30 I didn't think it would be as bad as it is.
11:32 It's pretty bad.
11:33 Yeah.
11:34 Well, man, congratulations.
11:35 That was an awesome run, and we'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow at the slide pole.
11:38 Yes, sir.
11:39 I'm going to give a hell tomorrow, too.
11:40 All right, brother.
11:41 We'll see you tomorrow.
11:42 Yes, sir.
11:43 Thank you all.
11:44 It was a day of craziness and carnage at the drag strip, with Charlie Keeter coming out
11:46 on top at Vandermeer, David Ferguson runnering up, and Travis Kohler, the third place finisher.
11:51 There's only one thing left for these competitors to do, and that's to hook to the pulling sled
11:55 tomorrow at the Adams County Fairgrounds.
11:57 Who will be left?
11:58 Who's still running?
11:59 And who will take home the 2016 Diesel Power Challenge presented by XDP Title?
12:04 Tune into the next episode and find out this one's crazy.
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